


Fotografias

by lenfaz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Photographer, F/M, Falling In Love, Photography, Star-crossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-11 09:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8974840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lenfaz/pseuds/lenfaz
Summary: Sometimes life has a way of showing you things even if you are not looking. (Title is in Spanish but the fic is in English.)





	1. 2004

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mayquita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayquita/gifts).



> Written for the wonderful Teresa, on the occasion of a Secret Santa exchange.

_ Cada vez que yo me voy llevo a un lado de mi piel   
Tus fotografías _

It was written in the stars they chased that first time they met. The moon was full and Emma had dragged herself, her tripod, and the old camera she had gotten from the local YMCA up to the hill where the planetarium was, eager to capture every single moment of that night. She’d been planning this for weeks, ticking each day off the calendar until the full moon and scouting the place for the best location.

When she finally made it up the hill, she was disheartened to find her coveted spot already occupied. Emma Swan wasn’t one to coward in adversity - her years on the system had taught her that you have to punch first and apologize later - and she swiftly walked towards  _ her  _ spot with determination. But her words - and the bravado - died on her lips the moment the stranger that had been usurping her spot turned around and she was faced with the most beautiful blue eyes she’d seen in her sixteen years of life. Perhaps it was the moon reflection on his features or perhaps it was the way his disheveled dark hair fell on his forehead, but Emma couldn’t do anything but gape for a few moments.

“I’m sorry, lass, am I in your spot?” He asked and it took her out of her internal musings. He had a lilting accent and a soft smile and was looking at her with apologetic eyes.

“I- I was hoping to set up my camera here and take some pictures,” Emma said hesitantly, her eyes averted to the ground as she shuffled her feet.

“Well, there’s plenty of room, love. Don’t be shy.” He scooped his own tripod and camera to the side and made room for her. 

Feeling a little self conscious over her battered tripod and second-hand camera, Emma set up her things and reached to adjust the settings on it.

“I’m Killian, by the way. Killian Jones.” His eyes were still on his viewfinder, but his voice was loud and clear.

“Emma. Emma Swan,” she offered in return and focused on framing the images of the moon and the stars as she had envisioned.

They stood side by side, mostly in silence, and they took one picture after the other. But as the night bled in, the confessions started to pour in between them as if they had known each other for years.

She’d been bouncing from home to home in the system, never quite fitting in until the moment she grabbed a camera for a stupid project at school and something started to make sense in her life.

He was fresh out of school, eighteen and set on seeing the world before he’d enlisted on the Royal Navy much like his older brother did. The pictures were simply a way to be reminded of all the things that were worth to admire in the world.

As the night came to an end, and there were no more pictures to be taken, they both packed their gears. 

It was at the bottom of the hill that he took his camera from the bag and gave it to her.

“So you don’t have to lend another one from the local Y, lass.”

“I can’t -”

“Take it, I won’t have much use of it in the Navy and I rather see you benefiting from it,” he insisted as he thrusted the camera in her hands and his fingers caressed her skin. “Document the world for me, Swan,” he said, giving her one final smile before he turned around and walked away, the collar of his leather jacket up to protect him from the cold. 


	2. 2008

**2008**

_Para verlas cada vez_   
_Que tu ausencia me devora entero el corazón_   
_Y yo no tengo remedio mas que amarte_

It was written in the streets of the little european town where they found each other again. Emma had been on the road for a few weeks, a small bag on her back and as much photography gear she could carry around Europe. She’d worked a job here and there and even got the chance to sell a photo or two to extend the trip.

She saw him through the lens of her camera first as he walked into the street- and her shot. Her heart beat frantically in her chest as she followed his movements through the camera, zooming in to see if she had mistaken him. But when he turned around and she got a good shot on his face, she knew it was him. She’d recognize him anywhere.

He was fumbling with his own camera when he noticed her. His head tilted to the side as if he were trying to pinpoint where he knew her from before realization hit him.

“Swan, is that you?” His smile was bright and contagious.

Emma nodded and stood there awkwardly for a moment until she found herself trapped in a fierceless hug. “It’s good to see you again, lass.”

“It’s good to see you too.”

The afternoon bled into the sunset as they toured the city taking pictures. He’d left the Navy a few months before, something about a broken heart and a need for a change. Emma didn’t pry. She had heartbreaks of her own that she didn’t want to relive.

Killian had picked up a camera again for the first time in four years to see if it could help him figure out his life. They just took one picture after another from the streets, the bridges, the little cafes and the markets on the square - and one or two of one another in between.

She had a train to catch late that night and he walked her to the station.

“So, have you?” Emma asked as they stood on the platform and it was time to board her train. He gave her a confused look. “Figure out your life?”

He shook his head, a soft smile gracing his lips. “Not yet.”

Her fingers traced the lapels of his leather jacket as she leaned in to press a kiss on his cheek. “You will. In the meantime, document the world for me, Killian.”

She climbed the stairs of the train long before he was able to react to her words and actions. The last image she saw of him was the way he caressed the cheek she’d just kissed and looked in the direction the train was leaving.


	3. 2010

_  
_ **2010**

_Y en la distancia te puedo ver_  
_Cuando tus fotos me siento a ver_  
_Y en las estrellas tus ojos ver_  
_Cuando tus fotos me siento a ver_

 

It was written on the trails of the national park where she was working as a guide of a photographic tour one summer. She’d started as a way to save money and then try her luck in a big city - New York or Chicago or even Boston - but more and more she found that wildlife photography was something she’d become passionate about.

Killian smirked and tilted his head amused when he saw her. There were a few more hard edges on him, a light scruff covering his jaw, a scar crossing his right cheek. But his eyes were the same breathtaking blue she remembered.

“I guess we’re destined to meet like this.” He pulled away from the hug they shared and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Like what?”

“Chasing the next best shot as we document the world.”

“And we figure out our lives,” she finished for him, tugging the sleeve of his jacket and heading to the trail.

They spent the weekend trailing and taking pictures. The kinship they had shared before remained intact. They were older now, a few more experiences under their belts making certain touches last longer, their stares linger, they eyes dart to each other’s lips from time to time. It brewed in the air during the day, wrapped in each moment they stood side by side taking pictures.

And the last night, when they were the last ones left by the bonfire, it simply happened. Her fingers gracing his jaw, his lips brushing against hers. Soft, hesitant, much as if they were teenagers under the stars that first night they met.

“Maybe we should exchange numbers.” His lips whispered in her ear but she shook her head, the hint of a tear coming to her eye.

“It’s impossible to make this work, and you know it.” Her lips chased his in a desperate goodbye kiss. “Let me remember you like this instead of adding you to my list of heartaches.”

He wanted to protest, to claim they could make it, that he knew there was something there that was meant to be explored. But he had nothing to offer for now, and she was right.

_One day_. He promised to himself as he gave her one last kiss.


	4. 2014

**2014**

_Cuando hay un abismo desnudo_  
 _Que se opone entre los dos_  
 _Yo me valgo del recuerdo taciturno de tu voz_  
 _Y de nuevo siento enfermo este corazón_  
 _Que no le queda remedio mas que amarte_   
  
It was written in the bright city lights when he met her outside the train station. He’d finally settled down in New York and in the last two years his career in fashion and style photography had skyrocketed. He was the town’s novelty, everyone’s favorite photographer. He was booked non stop and his photos had made the cover of top magazines.

None of that mattered as he shuffled nervously in his feet and waited for her. Emma had tracked him down and mentioned she’d be in town for the evening, a short stop in between her travels. He had kept tabs with her in the past four years, a little more sporadic in the beginning but once she started settle down in wildlife and nature photography, it was easy to keep track with her photos - and her travels - in a variety of specialized magazines. Social media had made it easier to follow her work via her accounts here and there. It was a small world after all, and it had only shrunk for them with the available technology.

He spotted her leaving the station main entrance and it took her one second to find him. She seemed tired, her hair a loose ponytail, washed jeans and a red leather jacket. She had her gear on one bag and a torn leather travel bag that had seen better days.

He’d made a life out of photographing beauty and she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.

Unsure of his steps, he made his way to her, wishing he could muster that bravado that was so easy to pull amongst models and actresses. But none of them knew the real side of him like the blonde reaching to fuse with him in a tight embrace that could have lasted a lifetime and still wouldn't be enough.

“I need to get to my hotel.” She pointed at herself. “I look like crap and I need a shower.”

“Nonsense, you could never look like crap.” He took her travel bag from her. “And you’re staying with me. We have plans for tonight.”

“We do?”

“Aye.”

He wasn’t planning to dazzle her with city lights and posh parties, but it was his life these days. Emma came out of the guest room looking stunning. He could barely keep his eyes off of her throughout the entire night, as she enchanted everyone around her.

“So, this is your life.” She was standing by the window on his living room, enjoying the view. “Fancy parties and glamour all around.”

He shrugged. “And yours is nights spent camping outdoors in forsaken places chasing the perfect shot.”

“Breathtaking models gracing your arm each night?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Or your bed?”

He took a step closer, his eyes boring into hers as she bit her lower lip. He could raise to the bait, or he could do what he do best, and challenge her.

“Good ol’ boyscouts kissing you by the bonfire? Keeping you warm at night?” He traced her bare arm with his finger and it was as if time had stopped, the tension in the air palpable in the way her breath caught on her throat.

She rested her hand on his chest, playing with the stylish shirt he was wearing. “I’m not sure I’m in the mood for boyscouts anymore.”

He could worry about the meaning of the last word tomorrow, as the inevitable happened and she’d left to chase the next new wildlife adventure. For now, he was going to live in the moment, in the way her lips melted against his when he kissed her. On the soft moans she elicited when he removed her clothes and traced his lips on her skin. On the way her back arched to meet his thrusts. On the absolute perfection that it was to fall asleep with Emma Swan in his arms.     

Killian was right. She was gone when he woke up, her scent still on his pillow. But unlike other times, his phone buzzed with an unknown sender message.

_Maybe it is time for you to have my number._


	5. Chicago, Christmas 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a great thank you for captain--kitten on tumblr for letting me use her CS manip for this final picset

 

**Chicago, Christmas 2016**

_Cada vez que te busco te vas_  
_Y cada vez que te llamo no estas_  
_Es por eso que debo decir_  
_Que tu solo en mis fotos estas_  
**  
**

It was written in the snowflakes that were falling on his hair as he stood on her doorstep, trying to calm his frantically beating heart.

Two years. It had been two long years of text messages, phone calls and the occasional videocall. Two years in which they slowly opened up to each other, sharing every bit they could as the days bled into weeks, months, years. Two years of never being able to _find_ each other due to commitments. He was in Paris when she made it to New York. She missed him in Milan for twelve hours due to a delayed flight.

They should have given up by now, but how can you give up on the one thing that has been the constant in your life even when you were determined not to have one?

Two years that had started with timid smiles and hesitant words and had lead to suggestive selfies and even more suggestive texts. Killian always thought he was great at making seductive pictures in his sessions, but Emma Swan could give him a run for his money when it came to hint at everything without really showing anything. Well, she certainly gave him one restless night or two. Among other things he blushed at remembering.

Which is why when she mentioned she’d be home for Christmas, he didn’t think twice about packing a bag and taking the next available flight to Chicago.

If he wondered how to greet her when he finally saw her again, the way she pulled him by the lapels of his leather jacket and crushed her lips to his was answer enough. It all faded after that and nothing existed but Emma Swan, her lips on his skin, her body moving in rhythm with his, the scent of her hair as he nuzzled his nose closer to her and drifted to sleep.

Later - much later - he finally had a chance to take a look around her house. The hundreds of photographs that took almost every space on every wall, the shelves full with different sorts of cameras and lenses, the books that peaked in behind them.

When he spotted it, he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. In the middle of the shelves, almost as if it were a queen watching everything from its throne, was his old camera. The one he’d given her that first night he met her, when he was still too young to understand that he wanted to give her the world and had settled for giving her the one thing he had that would make her happy.

“You kept it.” He traced his fingers over the lens in disbelief.

“Did you have any doubt that I would?” Her voice said almost everything and her eyes said it all. “Killian, that was the first thing someone ever gave me that was meant for _me_ . A gift that was done thinking of _me_ and only me.”

He didn’t let that tear go far on her cheek, drying it with his lips, bringing Emma closer to him. “I love you.” He wondered why it had taken him so long to say it. “I think I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you carrying that tripod with a determined look on your face.”

“I love you too.” A shiver ran down her body and he knew he’d made the right decision. And then she turned his world upside down much like every other time he’d seen her. “Move in with me? I’m tired of documenting the world alone, Killian. I just - I want to document my life with you.”

He grabbed the first camera he could reach on the shelf. “Let’s not waste any more time, aye?” He pulled them both on the couch and took the first picture of the rest of their lives.

 


End file.
